The French energy group Total has dismissed nearly 900 workers at Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire after a wildcat strike last week. The workers claim that an agreement not to cut jobs was broken. Already in January, Lindsey was hit by mass industrial actions over an alleged undercutting of collective agreement by the use of foreign posted workers. EFBWW, the European Metalworkers Federation and the European Chemical Workers’ Federation have issued a Joint Statement in support for the striking workers. The three federations call on Total management to act in a socially responsible manner and sit down with all parties, and using ACAS, the arbitration and conciliation service, to resolve the dispute. In the Statement, the federations also call on politicians at national and EU level to redress the imbalance created by the recent ECJ cases between fundamental workers’ rights and internal market freedoms, by revising the EU legislation allowing for the equal treatment of domestic and foreign workers. The Joint Statement is available below.
European industry federation support for today’s protest action regarding sacked workers at Lindsey